People like Greta Thunberg are proving that in this digital day and age, children can be strong vocal leaders that have the power to demand change. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC30), Unicef and the EU wanted to find a way to include children from all parts of the world in this complicated matter. The goal was to engage children to like, share, participate and increase awareness around their rights.

First, we went looking for a place where we could reach our target audience (children) on a global scale. We turned to TikTok and its half billion young users. We studied the style and mechanics of this unique social network and created a campaign completely in its language.

We used the most common activity on TikTok, challenges. “You create a routine and I’ll copy it.” It’s as simple as it is entertaining. To remind children of the fact that this right to express themselves freely didn’t come easily, we created a different type of challenge: The Real Challenge. We asked them to step in the shoes of their less fortunate peers: Young kids who are forced to work instead of playing; Girls who are perceived as lesser beings than boys; Children who are being separated from their families against their will and so on.

Each Real Challenge focuses on a different part of the world and violation of children’s rights (child labour, bullying, gender equality and family unity). We used the simple functionalities offered by TikTok itself and accompanied the challenges with a popular song. By asking TikTok users to ‘duet’ our content, they help raise awareness around this essential human rights topic.

We amplified our reach with the help of TikTok influencers all over the world. Influencers like Luciana Spinelli (Italy - 7,7M followers), Cain Guzman (Mexico - 15M followers), Ignacia Antonia (Chili - 17,2M followers), Mridul Madhok (India - 10,7M followers) and Sandy SS (Indonesia - 10,8M followers) helped spread our message by sharing or doing our challenges themselves.

The campaign generated more than 95.000 unique pieces of user generated content that amassed a stellar 452.9 million views in over 50 countries. The Real Challenge was applauded by the European Parliament for being the first children’s rights campaign, in its 30 years history, that was made in a language children all over the world actually understand.